Duck, N.C., is located in the northern Outer Banks, nestled between the Atlantic Ocean to the east and Currituck Sound to the west. Its year-round population is close to 400 but increases during the summer season to 20,000. The one-day, admission-free outdoor Duck Jazz Festival is held in October, when the crowds are gone and the temperature has dropped to a comfortable level.
This year, for its ninth edition, the festival kicked off with regional groups the Monitors, Joe Mapp and the Coordinates, and the Mint Julep Jazz Band. The Bria Skonberg Quintet followed, with Skonberg on trumpet and vocals, Evan Arntzen (clarinet, sax), Sean Cronin (bass), Dalton Ridenhour (piano) and Darrian Douglas (drums). Finishing off the day was James Brown’s veteran saxophonist Maceo Parker, clearly a crowd favorite, having been born in Kinston, N.C. Parker and his octet mixed it up with a little jazz, a little soul and a whole lot of funk.
